Dry ore-concentrator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. G. VOLLME'R.

DRY ORE GONOENTRATOR.

No. 287,396. Patented Oct. 23, 1883.

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2 SheetsS heet 2.

(No Model.)

J. G. VOLLMER. DRY ORE GONGENTRATOR.

No. 287,396. Patented Oct. 23, 1883.

ATTORNEYS.

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Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN GEORGE VOLLMER, OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.

DRY OIRE-COYNCENTRATO R.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters PatentNo. 287,396, dated October 23, 1883. Application filed January 18, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN GEORGE VOLLMER, of Austin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas, have invented anew and Improved Dry Ore-Concentrator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements'in oreconoentrators; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is afront elevation of myimproved dry ore-concentrator. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the same on line as as, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the under side of the same. Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of onehalf of the same on the line y, Fig. 2. Fig.

5 is an enlarged detail cross-sectional elevation of one of the first ore beds or screens. is an enlarged detail cross-sectional elevation of one of the smaller ore beds or screens.

The ore to be concentrated is dumped onthe platform A, provided with an aperture, A, through which the ore passes and drops upon a downwardly-inclined screen, B, downwhichthe coarser particles-such as rocks, stones, &c. slide until they strike a diagonal board, B, at the bottom of the screen, which diagonal board directs the stones, 850., to a chute, O, the lower end of which can be closed by a vertically-adjustable gate, 0, which can be operated by a hand-lever, 0 From the lower end of the chute O the rocks and stones drop upon adrum, D, provided with a series of longitudinal partitions, D, which form pockets. The drum D is mounted on one end of the shaft E, journaled in the upperpart of the frame or box E of the concentrator, and passes longitudinally through the same, the'said drum D being outside of the frame of the concentrator. The

sand and finer particles of ore which drop Fig. 6

closed by a vertically-movable gate, G, which can be operated by means of the hand-lever G the lower end of the said chute G being above the middle of the frame or box E of the concentrator. From the lower end of the chute G the particles of sand and ore drop upon a drum, D, provided with longitudinal partitions D which form pockets, which drum D is also mounted on the shaft E. A box, H, is formed below the inclined partition F, and is provided at its bottom with an opening, a, and at its top with one or more fiues, b. A fire is made in the lower part of the box H, from which box the products of combustion pass off through the fines b. The fire in the box H heats the partition. F, and thereby dries the ore which slides over the same.

In place of building a fire in thebox H, hot air and smoke can be conducted through the same, or steam may be used for the same purpose. Within the frame E the floors I are formed, which are inclined from the middle downward toward the longitudinal'sides of the frame, which longitudinal sides of the frame are provided, at the lower end of each half of the frame I, with a longitudinal slot or opening, I, which can be closed by a gate, 1 which is guided on the outer surface of the corresponding side of the frame E to slide vertically. Each gate is connected, by means of a suitable connecting-rod, with a hand-lever, J, pivoted to the outer surface of the corresponding side of the box or frame F, by means of which lever J the gate can be raised or lowered more or less as circumstances may require.

'On each side of the frame an ore bed or screen,

K, is formed of a layer of cloth, (1, resting on a layer of wire-netting, f, of three-eighths of an inch mesh. A series of longitudinal rifo fies, g, which are tapered toward their upper edges, and from the inner toward the outer longitudinal edge of the screen, are secured on the layer of cloth (I, and between the said riffles-iron rods or braces h are secured on the. 5 cloth for holding the cloth firmly and securely on the wire-nettingfk The wire-netting is secured by means of beveled slats j. The-said ore bed or screen has a pitch of one and onequarter inch to the foot from its inner toward its outer; longitudinal edge, as shown in'Fig.

2. Each screen or ore-bed Kis placed over a wind-box, L, to the bottom of'which a bellows-plate, M, is hinged, which will be debed, N, which is formed of a layer of cloth, k,

between an upper layer, 1, of wire netting having a quarter-inch mesl1,and a lower layer of wire netting, m, having a three-eighths inch mesh, on which upper layer longitudinal riflles n are secured. The lower longitudinal edges, 0 and p, of the ore beds or screens K and N, respectively, are beveled outwardly to facilitate the passage of the sand and ore over the same. The ore bed or screen N rests on a wind-box, O, which is. in communication with the wind-box L by means of an aperture, r, and is to be held in place by means similar to that described and shown for screen K.

Below the wind-box'O, I have provided an inclined chute, Q, into which the concentrated ore drops from the edge of the ore bed or screen N. To cause the ore that drops from the edge of the screen or ore-bedN to drop vertically, I have provided an inclined strip, 8, parallel with and above the beveled edge 1) of the ore bed or screen N, as shown. The said strip 8 can be adjusted to be a greater or less distance from the beveled edge by means of suitable thumb-screws.

The bellows-plates M are hinged, as shown at m in Fig. 3, and are provided with a series of slots or openings, t, which can be closed by valves 0 on the upper surface of the bellowsplates, which valves open when the bellows:

plates swing downward and close when they swing upward. Angle-arms P project downward from the bellows-plates on each side of the frame E, and are pivoted to thelower ends of connecting-rods P, the upper endsof which are pivoted to the ends of rocking cross-arms P, mounted loosely to rock on a fixed shaft or rod, R, held longitudinally, and in a horizontal position in the frame E, below the inclined floor I.

To one end of each rocking arm I? an arm, BL, is attached, the lower end of which is mounted on an eccentric disk, R, which is mounted on a shaft, S, journaled in the frame E, below the shaft It, which shaft S is provided at the end with a belt-pulley,.S, over which a belt, S", passes,which also passes over a pulley, S, on the driving-shaft E. The ore beds or screens N are adapted to slide forward and backward longitudinally on their windboxes, and they have end arms, T, attached to pivoted-quadrants T, which are connected by means of connecting-rods WV with crank; wheels U on the ends of the shaft S.

A brake-lever, X, is pivoted to one end of the machine-frame E, and is adapted to be pressed against a friction-pulley, Y, on the ore-beds in a certain time.

shaft S. Valves 0' are provided to prevent the air from passing from the air-box 0 back into the air-box L.

The operation is as follows: The stones and rocks dropping into the pockets of the drum D, and the sand and pulverized ore dropping into the pockets of the drum D cause the said drums to rotate'in the direction of the arrow 7 a, and thereby, as the drums gradually turn around, the stones will drop to the ground, and the pulverized ore and sand will drop from the drum D to the floors I, whereby the shaft E will be rotated in the direction of the arrow So a, and will rotate the shaft S. The gates C and G are opened more or less, according as the rocks, stones, and sand are to befed to the drums D and D more or less rapidly, and according as greater or less speed is desired. If 8 desired, the shaft E can also be rotated by other machinery. The pulverized ore and the sand slide down the inclined floors I through the openings I, and drop down upon the ore beds or screens K. The gates I canbe opened 0 more or less, according as a greater or less quantity of pulverized ore is to drop upon the By means of the arms R the crank-arms P will be rocked, and thereby the free edges of the bellows-platesM 9 will be moved up and down, and thereby the air will be compressed within the air-box L, and will be forced through the wire-netting f and through the layer of cloth or other fabric,

d, and will blow off the lighter particles rest- 10o ing on the ore-bed. As the wind comes in sudden gusts it carries the lighter particles successively over riffles g and rods h, until they finally drop from the beveled edge 0 up- ,on the next ore bed or screen N. The heavy IO 5 particles of ore-that is, the particles of gold and silver-are not blown over the rifiles g and rods h, but remain behind the same. A part of the air passes from the air-box L through the aperture 0' into the air-box 0, I10

passes through the wire-nettings m and l and the intermediate layer of cloth, k, of the ore bed or screen N, and then carries off the remaining lighter particles that are mixed with the valuable ore. N are continually reciprocated, the removal of the fine dust is greatly facilitated. The heavier particles of ore-that is, of gold and silveraccumulate behind the rifiles n and the remaining portions pass down the beveled edge 10 into the chute Q, and, if desired, can then be passed through the machine again. The ore beds or screens K and N are then removed and the ore brushed or swept off, or the gold is removed from the same in any other suitable manner, and they are then placed back in the machine to receive a fresh charge of ore.

By means of the above-described device a large quantity of ore can be concentrated in a very short time and at a very low cost. There are no expenses for a motor, as the ore that is to be concentrated operates the machine itself.

Having thus described my invention, what I As the ore beds or screens I 15 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. A dry concentrator made substantiall as herein shown and described, with a series of fixed and movable ore beds or screens, windboxes, and means for forcing a current of air or wind through the wind-boxes, and screens or ore-beds from below, as set forth.

2. A dry concentrator constructed with a screen for separating the pulverized ore and sand from the rocks and stones, devices for drying the separate pulverized ore and sand before it passes to the feeding devices, a series of ore beds or screens, wind-boxes, and means for forcing a current of air or wind through the said boxes and screens or ore-beds from below, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the screen B, of the diagonal board B at the lower end of the same, the inclined floor E, the diagonal board F at the end of the same,-the chutes O and G, and the gates O and G at the ends of the chutes, substantially as herein shown and described, and for'the purpose set forth.

4. In an ore-concentrator, the combination, with the inclined screen B, of the inclined floor F below it, the chutes O and G, and the drums D and D mounted on-the driving-shaft E, for driving the mechanism of the concentrator, substantially as herein shown and de-. scribed, and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a dry ore-concentrator, the combination, with the frame or box E, of the inclined floors I, the ore beds or screens K, and N, the wind-boxes, and devices for producing a current of air or wind, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a dry ore-concentrator, the combination, with the box or frame E, of the inclined floor I, the gates I the ore beds or screens K and N, the wind-boxes, and devices for producing a current of air or wind, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

7 I11 a dry ore-concentrator, the combination, with the boxor frame E,.provided with the inclined floor I, the ore beds or screens K N, and the air-boxes L O, of the bellowsplates M, the angle-arms P, the connectingrods 1?, the cross-arms P the arms R, the cocentrics R and the shaft S, substantially as herein shown and described.

8. In a dry concentrator, the combination, with the box or frame E, of the drum 13*,

mounted on the shaft E, the inclined floors I, the ore beds or screens K and N, the windboxes, and devices for producing a current of air, which devices are operated from the driving-shaft E, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a dry concentrator, the combination, with a box or frame, E, of the inclined floors I, the ore beds or screens K, the wind-boxes L, the ore beds or screens N, the wind-boxes 0, connected by means of the apertures rwith the wind-boxes L, the valves r, and devices for producing a current of air or'wind, sub stantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a dry concentrator, the combination,

with the box or frame E, of the inclined floors I, the ore beds or screens K, the levers L for locking them in'place, and devices for creating a current of air or wind which passes through the ore-beds from bottom to top, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a dry concentrator, the combination, with the box or frame E, of the inclined floors I, the ore beds or screens K, the reciprocating ore-beds N, devices for producing a current of air or wind, and devices for reciprocating the ore-beds N, the devices for producing the wind and for reciprocating the orebeds N being operated from the same drivingshaft, substantially as herein shownand described, and for the purpose set forth.

12. In a dry concentrator, the combination, with the box or frame E, of the inclined floors I, the ore;beds K, the reciprocating ore-beds N, the shaft E, the drum D the shaft S, operated from the shaft E, devices for producing a current of air or wind, means by which the devices are operated from the shaft S, the crank-wheels U on the shaft S, the connectingrods W, the pivoted quadrants T and the arms T on the orebeds N, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the pur pose set forth. T

13. In an ore bed or screen, the combination, with a frame, of the layer (1 of fabric, the wire-nettingf, the beveled longitudinal riffles g, the metal-rod riffies h, and the supportingstrips j, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN GEORGE VOLLlVIER. 

